Madoff suffered heart attack last month: CNBC reports

Bernard Madoff walks back to his apartment in New York December 17, 2008.Shannon Stapleton

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff was hospitalized last month for a heart attack, CNBC reported on Wednesday.

Madoff, 75, told CNBC in an email that he had since returned to the federal prison where he is serving a 150-year sentence for masterminding a massive Ponzi scheme that destroyed the lives of thousands of investors. Madoff also said that he suffers from stage-4 kidney disease, but was not undergoing dialysis, the network said.

A spokesman for the prison in Butner, North Carolina, confirmed that Madoff was at the facility but would not confirm that he had been hospitalized.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons in Washington, Ed Ross, said the agency could not comment on inmates' medical conditions, although he said it was "not unusual" for prisoners who require treatment to be sent to local medical facilities.

Ira Lee Sorkin, who defended Madoff against criminal charges until he pleaded guilty and who remains in touch with members of Madoff's family, declined to comment.

"It was decided a while ago that I cannot comment about his physical or emotional condition," Sorkin said.

Five former Madoff employees are currently on trial in New York on charges that they helped facilitate Madoff's scheme.